George W. Spicer and the Marshallton Silk Mill

November 15, 1911 headline of
the burning of the silk mill

From its inception in the 1830's through the remainder of the 19th Century and well into the 20th Century, the Village of Marshallton was always a mill town. The primary employer, of course, was the iron mill (later the fibre mill, later the Haveg and Ametek plant), but the woolen mill just to the south at Kiamensi was also a large Marshallton-area employer. While those two establishments put Marshallton men (and women...and children) to work for generations, for a short while there was actually a third, smaller mill operating in Marshallton.

From 1906 until 1911, and then possibly for a spell in 1914, the Marshallton Silk Mill was a source of employment for several dozen area residents. Although it was never as large or as long-lasting as the other two, for a time it was a significant employer in the area. And while there's not a whole lot that seems to be known about the operation, one thing I do know is that the story of the Marshallton Silk Mill is inextricably linked to that of its founder and owner -- George Washington Spicer, Jr.

George W. Spicer was born in June 1859, probably in Leipsic, Kent County, and grew up in Little Creek Hundred just north of Dover. His father was a merchant (listed as a Confectioner in 1860, at a feed store in 1870, and a grocer in 1880), so young George was probably never pulled into the farming life that the majority of his peers of that era were. He likely helped out in his father's stores when he was young, soaking up all the talk and gossip that came in with the patrons. And being near Dover, George may have heard a lot of political talk, stoking an interest he'd pursue passionately later in life.

I'm not sure what his connection was or why he ended up here, but by 1880 George Spicer was residing as a boarder in a home in Marshallton, and working at the Kiamensi Woolen Mill. His situation would change the following year, when in July 1881 he married Laura McGonigal, also of Kent County. The couple settled in Marshallton, and in November 1882 Spicer made a purchase that would set the rest of the story in motion. He bought from Vincent G. Flinn 19.67 acres of land on the southwest side of Newport Road and east of Red Clay Creek, much of which is now Washington Heights.